Tracks and level crossings: Increasing number of fatal rail accidents in the EU due to carelessness

Brussels – In the EU, casualties on railway tracks are on the rise. What’s happening on the EU’s railways? Lack of attention is driving up the number of fatal accidents. Eurostat notes that in 2023, the number of fatalities from rail accidents hit 841, up from 803 in 2022. Over half of the lethal accidents involved unauthorized people on the tracks (58 percent of cases). The second largest group of fatalities involved level crossing users (27 percent).
Thus, not just the occasional train accident, in the sense of collision between convoys or derailments, but also carelessness that turns out to be fatal. It is not a new problem, but now, it is starting to become structural. Carelessness in crossing the tracks or walking near them affects everyone, as the number of fatal cases has risen from 683 in 2021 to new records in the EU.Italy is no exception in this increase in deaths. In the country, the figure has not dropped since 2019. At the end of 2023, Italy ranked in the top 10 for fatal accidents on the tracks, as many as 74, the worst figure since 2016 (in that year, the total fatalities were 85). In terms of fatality numbers, the country ranks eighth in the EU.

In releasing the updated data, the European Statistical Institute urged caution and prudence. “2023 was the second year with an increase in the number of fatal accidents in rail transport, after a downward trend from 2010 to 2021 when the number declined by about 45 percent.